Kigidella 



( 277 ) 



Ripe Rot of Fruit 



ridges arc made >ip with the aid of long manure', 

 and are flattened at the top. The object in this 

 instance is to secure a warm rooting medium by 

 ensuring free drainage and the largest possible 

 exposure to sunshine. 



RIGIDELLA. 



Half-hardy bulbous plants (nrrl. Iridese). Prop- 

 agation, by offsets. Soil, loam, peat and sand. 

 Winter protection is essential. 



Principal Species : 



flammea, 4', My., or. pur. immaculata, 2', Je., so., 

 yel. 



RINGING. 



As applied to a method of propagation, this term 

 signifies the removal of a ring or band of bark 



Only Species : 



torulosa, 1(1', sum., yel., grn. 



RIPENING WOOD. 



When, at the end of a season, the growth 

 produced therein is hard, with the bark firm and 

 the buds plump, it is said to be ripe, i.e. in a fit 

 state to pass through the winter unharmed. The 

 progress of the seasons ensures a ripening process, 

 but it may be aided very considerably in the case 

 of fruit trees and bushes, flowering trees and 

 shrubs, etc., by a judicious thinning out of 

 branches, so that sunlight and air may have full 

 play on leaf and stem. Summer pruning among 

 fruit trees materially assists wood ripening. Unripe 

 wood is soft, and the bark usually quite green. 



npatiy, Ltd. 



RlCINUS COMMUSIS (see p. 270) IX THE BEDS AT KfiW. 



from a branch that is to be layered. Ringing 

 checks the return of sap, and if the part operated 

 upon is firmly buried in soil or moss it also induces 

 root-formation. Dracaenas and other stove plants 

 are often somewhat similarly treated, a ring being 

 removed just below the leafy head and the wound 

 bound up with damp moss, into which roots are 

 soon pushed. In both cases severance from the 

 stem or branch follows when the portion beyond 

 the ring has sufficient roots to support itself. This 

 process of ringing can also be, and is, used as a 

 method of destruction. When colonial forest land 

 is being cleared for farming it is often found easier 

 to cut a deep ring round the base of the trunk, and 

 let the tree die, than to lop, cut down, and uproot. 

 Rabbits often cause the death of young trees by 

 eating away an irregular ring of bark and .-oft 

 wood. 



RIOCREUXIA. 



A greenhouse climber (ord. Asclepiadese). Prop- 

 agation, by cuttings in spring, beneath a bell-glass, 

 over gentle bottom heat. Soil, light, well-drained 

 loam. 



Chrysanthemums, Orchids, and many winter-flower- 

 ing plants grown under glass, must all have 

 properly ripened or matured growth if they are to 

 be successfully managed, and in these cases it is 

 desirable to give the plants such assistance as shall 

 enable them to finish growth early in the autumn. 

 Unripe Chrysanthemum growths produce unsatis- 

 factory blooms, and unripe Orchid growths suffer 

 badly during the dull winter months, and often fail 

 to flower. 



RIPE ROT OF FRUIT. 



This is caused by a widely spread Fungus, 

 Monilia fructigena, which attacks Apples, Plums, 

 Cherries, etc., but chiefly Apples. Brown patches 

 are first formed on the leaves, and afterwards on 

 the fruit. These increase in size until the greater 

 portion is covered. The diseased fruits do not rot, 

 but remain on the trees or ground in a brown, 

 mummified condition until the spring, spreading 

 the infection the following season. Diseased fruits 

 should be burnt or deeply buried, the trees sprayed 

 with sulphate of iron before the buds expand, and 

 later with Bordeaux Mixture. (/Se FUNGICIDES.) 



